No. 1 Frankfort, No. 3 Keyser meet in 49th Mineral Bowl

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KEYSER, W.Va. — The 49th Mineral Bowl has more juice than other recent iterations of the rivalry, but it hardly needs it.

No. 1 Frankfort (9-0) heads to the other side of the county to battle No. 3 Keyser (7-2) with playoff seeding, an undefeated season and a school-record winning streak at stake.

To one another, however, it’s still Frankfort, and it’s still Keyser. The chief objective is handing their hated rival a defeat to close out the regular season.

Kickoff at Tornado Alley is slated for 7 p.m.

“It’s a big rivalry,” Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman said. “It’s the biggest game of the year for both schools. Both communities are talking about it. Both communities get excited. I expect a big crowd up there Friday night, and I think that it’s going to be another electrifying Mineral Bowl.”

Frankfort, the No. 1 team in the Class AA playoff ratings and the defending champion in the classification, enters tonight’s matchup riding a school-record 23-game winning streak.

The streak is the second-longest in county history. Fred “Tack” Clark’s Golden Tornado established a 26-game mark from 1955-57.

Clark’s mark stood as the area record until Todd Appel’s Fort Hill won 29 in a row from 2013 to Week 1 in 2015. The Sentinels’ Week 2 defeat was followed by 32 straight victories, which stands as the area high mark.

Frankfort is also going for a sixth undefeated regular season, and Keyser is aiming for its first eight-win campaign since going 8-2 in 2020.

Tonight marks the first time both teams have seven or more wins entering the Mineral Bowl in six years when each entered with an 8-1 mark.

Keyser leads the all-time series 30-19, though Frankfort has won four in a row.

The first three of those defeats eliminated Keyser from the playoffs, and its loss last year to Frankfort, 55-0, ensured the Golden Tornado would finish with a losing record.

Keyser doesn’t have to worry about that this time around. The Golden Tornado can play free knowing that at No. 11 in the Class AAA playoff ratings, they are safely into the 16-team field.

“It takes a little bit of pressure off,” Keyser head coach Derek Stephen said, “but there’s still going to be pressure in the game because it’s a Mineral Bowl. These kids play each other coming all the way up through.

“It’s just one of those games that doesn’t matter if the, if the record is 0-9 or 9-0, it’s going to be a dogfight and it’s going to be a great game.”

Frankfort enters tonight’s matchup off a much-needed bye, which arrived on the heels of a 37-25 triumph over Herbert Hoover.

While some coaches may be worried about the week off stunting momentum, it was a welcome sight for Whiteman and company.

“The kids didn’t quit and played for 48 minutes, and that’s what it’s going to take from here on out,” Whiteman said of the win over Hoover. “We needed a bye week really bad. The kids, they’ve been working hard since July, and coming off that tough, physical game. I don’t like a bye week, but I’m glad we had one at the time we did.”

Keyser comes in off a thrilling 27-21 victory over a red-hot Mountain Ridge team, stopping the Miners on 4th-and-1 in the red zone in the final seconds.

The Golden Tornado now turn to a Frankfort squad that’s won by 20 or more points in 22 of its last 23 games, the lone exception its 12-point victory last week over one of the top programs in Class AAA.

Falcons soaring

Frankfort’s Wing-T offense is averaging 44.1 points per game, four points better than Keyser, which ranks second locally.

Carder Shanholtz leads the Falcons’ attack with 71 carries for 731 yards and 12 touchdowns, and Braydn Tyler adds 636 yards and 12 scores on 55 totes.

Quarterback Blake Jacobs has passed for 545 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception, adding 322 yards and five scores with his legs.

“They’re well-coached,” Stephen said. “They don’t make very many mistakes. They play fundamentally sound. They do the things they’re supposed to do. They carry out their fakes. They block hard, they run hard, they tackle hard.

“It’s one of those games you’re like, all right, they’re probably not going to make a lot of mistakes, so we’re going to have to come out and we’re going to have to play a great game as well.”

Tornado warning

While Frankfort has scored more points, Keyser has rushed for more yardage 2,586-2,554.

The Golden Tornado have three rushers with at least 500 yards on the ground in Grayson Lambka (868, 10 TDs), Addison Brafford (676, nine TDs) and Owen Rotruck (525, seven TDs).

Dom Crawford has 709 yards and eight scores split between his rushing and pass-catching touches, and Brafford has thrown for 731 yards, 11 scores and three interceptions.

“They’re coached up well,” Whiteman said. “It’s very obvious when you watch them on both sides of the ball, they’re very disciplined with their assignments, and that’s just a constant you’re going to see with them.

“I love watching them just because of being a Wing-T team. They’re going to give us a lot of formations, a lot of different looks. I feel like they have some multiple weapons on offense they can utilize.”

POY showcase

Tonight could provide an opportunity for Lambka and Tyler to make a claim for Area Player of the Year.

Tyler has 1,132 all-purpose yards and 19 total touchdowns, and Lambka brings 1,438 all-purpose yardage and 18 scores.

Defensively, Tyler has 34 tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups, while Lambka boasts 87 tackles, three sacks, 13 tackles for loss, four interceptions, eight breakups, two forced fumbles, two recoveries, one defensive touchdown and a blocked kick.

Special special teams

Frankfort and Keyser have had quality special team units this season, both in the kicking and return game.

Lambka and Tyler are tied for the area lead with three kick returns for touchdowns each.

Keyser’s Tommy Nash, an All-State punter a year ago, is 4 for 4 on field goals with a long of 35. Frankfort’s Rhett Sensabaugh has made 3 of 4 attempts, including a school-record 45-yarder.

“We’ve gone into games and we’re like, all right, we think we have the advantage in special teams,” Stephen said. “It’s not like that. This week they’ve got a really good kicker. They’ve got a return team that can return the ball. And last year one of the big plays is they blocked the field goal on us.

“Special teams could be the spark play on one side or the other.”

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